Lost Souls
by apheria13
Summary: Sam and Dean are still getting into to trouble. With Dean's soul still destined for hell all looks bleak until on a job the boys meet Ruby Colt and her guardian angel Max. Both girls are surrounded in secrets. Together the four are destined for trouble R
1. Chapter 1

_Thoughts_

_"Telepathic communications"_

_**Spell words**_

**Flash backs**

[_Author's notes_]

Sarah carefully looked at her reflection. Her magenta tipped brown hair fell neatly to her shoulders. The light pink tank top she wore stood out in contrast to her dark jeans.

_Well I hope he asks me today._ She thought, her brown eyes glazing over as she imagined them at homecoming. _He's so perfect. _She smiled dreamily, absent mindedly playing with her hair. _Brandon Johnson, _she mused, _a perfectly plain yet exotic name. Perfect black hair, perfect dark eyes, perfect everything._

She paused in her thoughts when she noticed a shadowy shape in her mirror. She spun around her fist out stretched. Her assailant dodged and grabbed her arm, stopping its movement. "Are you trying to kill me?"

"Eclipse!," Sarah exclaimed, recognizing her friend.

Eclipse laughed and let go of her arm, stepping back. In her black tank top and dark jeans she resembled a fashionable ninja. "You were thinking about lover-boy again weren't you?"

Sarah started to deny it, but couldn't. Eclipse's strange blue-green eyes were hypnotic. They were always changing colors and intensity from their normal subtle blue to gray to green. When she looked you in the eyes it was like she could read your mind. "Yes." Sarah finally answered, trying not to look too guilty.

You know that can't be healthy for you." Eclipse comment casually leaning against the wall. Her black hair which was in a pony-tail as usual, seemed tinted with blue highlights in the light from lamp. "I don't know why you or any other girl sees in him. He's so… loverboy-ish. Nothing to be desired."

"Don't call him that."

"What undesirable?"

"Well that too." Sarah scowled at her, pulling on a black zip up hoodie. She watched as Eclipse did a hand stand.

"What ever you say Sakura."

"Who am I today?" Sarah asked, referring to her friends strange habit of nicknaming people on a daily bases.

"Sakura, from Naruto. And before you ask why it's because you're breaking hearts over one guy and…" She grinned evilly at her friend, returning to standing on her feet. "Well that and you've got pink hair."

Sarah chased her out of the room, Eclipse laughing evilly.

◊Ω◊

"Has anyone asked you yet?" Sarah asked Eclipse as they ate their breakfast.

"Nope." Eclipse answered, dismissively taking an enthusiastic bite of her toast.

"Do you know why?" Sarah pressed her, daintily eating her cereal.

"Not really." Eclipse said, "I don't really care anyways so." She took anther bite of her toast. "Dish is good." She commented her mouth full.

"Well you have to have some sort of idea." Sarah pressed again as her curiosity raged. "And manners please."

"Maybe I scare them to much." Eclipse answered again, finishing her toast and starting on her orange juice.

"How?"

"Well, I am a witch remember?" Eclipse smiled evilly again. It had been a joke at school that since she worked at the Magyck Remedy Emporium she dapped in the dark arts. Of course every one knew that it was really a place that healed people and sold herbs and 'magic' charms, but people also were wary of Eclipse for other reasons. First of all her black hair and eyes were unusual here in town (as well as in most places.) Also she had the strange ability to walk silently, or so it seemed. She was always using it to sneak up behind people and scare them.

"Come on. You know no one actually believes in dumb stuff like that." Sarah said, missing the dark look that crossed Eclipse face. "I mean withes and ghosts? Yeah right." Sarah paused and collected her thoughts. "Seriously have you been dodging the ones that want to ask you?"

"Of course not," Eclipse answered, "I've been leaving in the middle of their sentence."

"Eclipse, that's mean." Sarah chastised her laughing. She got up and put her dishes in the sink. Eclipse smiled in return, also putting her dishes in the sink. Together they lapsed into a comfortable silence, Sarah drying the dishes Eclipse washed.

As they finished the doorbell rang. Eclipse left to go answer it as Sarah finished drying the last few dishes. When Eclipse returned she was followed by a boy.

"Hey Cody," Sarah said smiling.

Cody smiled back and nodded, his brown shaggy hair falling over his eyes. He shook his head to move it. "You're hopefully happy." He commented, "May I ask why?"

Sarah didn't even try to deny it. While Cody didn't have the same ability to guess what was on your mind Eclipse he could still see how you felt. Cody was always able to tell what someone was feeling just by looking at there aura.

_"He can see a person's aura as plain as day." _Eclipse had tried to explain, _"Certain colors mean certain things and he's able to determine someone's mood from the colors."_

"Hey Sakura you home?" Eclipse was waving her hand in front of Sarah's face.

"What?" She snapped a little harsher than she meant to.

"Wolf-boy here wanted to know why." Eclipse reminded her, not worried or fazed by her attitude.

"Wolf-boy?" Cody asked, smiling his crooked smile that seemed to saw he was part of the world while flipping it off at the same time.

"From the werewolf essay you did. She thought you were right about what they're really like."

"Oh…you think I'm right?" He asked turning to her.

"Of course I do." She paused for a second and broke out into the evil smile she produced so well. "I would know anyways since I am one."

They all laughed. "So Sarah, what's up?" Cody asked once they finished.

"I was wondering." She blushed, "If Brandon has a date yet."

"Lover-boy again?" Eclipse rolled her eyes. Can't you just-"

Eclipse my dad would like to see you at noon." Cody cut her off, "Anyways you asked me to keep an eye out for some strange people right?" Eclipse nodded to confirm this. "Well two came in this morning. I think my dad called them in." Cody's Dad was the mayor of Jackville.

"Go on." She prompted, her eyes flashing with excitement.

"Well I'm not sure exactly how you'll tell what's strange about them but it is odd."

"How so?" Sarah asked, catching Eclipse's eyes as she bounced up and down. "Hurry before she snaps."

Cody laughed before he answered her. "Well it's hard to explain…" Suddenly he caught sight of the clock which read 11:32. "We've gotta go. I'll tell you when we get there.

"Let's go." Eclipse said racing towards the stars. Catching Sarah's confused look she said, "I've been looking for certain people a while now, and I need my sweatshirt."

Sarah nodded even though Eclipse had already disappeared up the stairs.

"No." Cody suddenly spoke up, scaring her a bit. She gave him a puzzled look. "No, Brandon hasn't asked anybody yet. Although there is a rumor he will later tonight."

Sarah smiled as Eclipse came down now sporting a black hoodie. Swiftly the trio left, none of them noticing a shadowy figure that disappeared down a dark alley as they passed.

◊Ω◊Ω◊

"The Winchesters." The mayor mused as Sam and Dean walked through the door.

"Yes sir." Sam answered respectively. Both he and Dean were wearing blue jeans and a nice shirt to accompany it. His was a light blue while Dean's was an off olive green. Over his shirt Dean still had his jacket on which concealed the gun he had grabbed from the trunk of the Impala. "I'm Sam, and this is Dean."

Dean nodded in acknowledgement as he continued to subtly search for threats and escape routes in the room.

"Well Bobby hopefully wasn't exaggerating about you guys." He gave them a stern look. "He said you guys have dealt with a lot of strange stuff, even stranger than normal for a hunter. Is this correct?"

"Yes," answered Dean, sitting down next to Sam.

"Good. Now before we began would either of you like a drink?"

Dean nodded and asked for a beer. Sam just asked for water.

"Now I hope Bobby told you what he did for me and my wife a while back, right?"

"Not the full story. He just told us it was a poltergeist." Sam answered him, shifting slightly in his seat.

"Yeah it was. It lived in our old house near the old Kuromitsukai place." The Mayor frowned in disappointment at the memory of losing his house.

"The what?" Sam interrupted him.

"An old family's estate that sits about a mile out of town. Most of the family was tragically murdered there about twenty years ago. Only the daughter survived. She was around four or five at the time."

Sam and Dean took this with silence which made the mayor nervous at first then he remembered exactly what they did and dismissed the feeling. "Well as I was saying my wife and I lived in that house for a bout a year until things got really bad. Our furniture was moved around when we left the room, the lights would flicker all the time, and the temperature dropped. Then the thing attacked us one night. Bobby showed up the next day and spent two days researching and trying to figure out what was wrong. Finally he told us that to fix this we had to burn the house. So we did. He told me that there was a body buried in the basement cement and that was why we had to fix it."

"So has anything strange happened beside the deaths?" Sam asked getting down to business as the mayor took a drink form the glass on his desk.

"Not really, although…" The mayor trailed off and looked quickly away.

"What?" Dean asked, noticing the shifty atmosphere that came with the answer.

"Well just this past month, month in a half maybe, Eclipse Kuromitsukai showed up again."

"The girl who survived?" Sam took the questions over again.

"No actually it's her daughter who showed up." He let his sentence trail off into an uncomfortable silence.

"Why?" Dean asked, shifting to a more comfortable position.

"Well her mom called me and told me she's been having trouble since they moved to a big city. Max told me she can't switch her job just yet and wanted Eclipse to be happier. So she sent her here to live with an old family friend. Although she moved in with a friend from school now."

"So this happened around the same time that the attacks got worse?" Sam pointed out, his face thoughtful.

"Yeah I guess they have gotten worse this past month. Bobby said it sounded like vampires." He quickly added, making him seem like he wanted to change the subject.

Sam opened his mouth to answer but was interrupted by the door opening. Three teenager trooped in, two girls and a boy.

`One of the girls had blonde hair with pink tips. The other girl was tall with black hair which was tied back in a ponytail. Behind them stood a boy with shaggy brown hair, who was staring at him curiously.

"Sorry for the intrusion sir." The black haired girl spoke up, "We've got your drinks." She held up a water bottle to prove her point.

"Why didn't Carry bring them in?" The mayor asked, referring to his secretry.

"She was busy and asked if I woud Carry them in." The boy spoke up. "Sorry Dad."

"And she sent all three of you?" He raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"No. I was curious as to who you were talking to so I force Sarah and Cody here to come so I wouldn't get in trouble on my own." The black haired girl spoke up, giving the maayor a look.

"We're sorry for the intrusion." THe girl Sarah spoke up, nervously looking between everyone.

"The beers for him." Sam said pointing to to Dean.

"THen that must mean this is for you." The black haired girl said. As she handed him the bottle thier fingers brushed aending a shock wave up Sam's are. Breifly a look of shock crossed her face berore she narrowed her eyes in an anger so intense it mad Sam dizzy. He tried to look away but her gaze held him still.

"Thank you kids." THe mayor spoke up, causing the black haired girl to turn away.

THe trio started to leave, Saraah in the lead. The black haired girl brought up the rear. She paused right before she left, glancing back at Sam. For a moment black flames seemed to dance along her skin. Before Sam could check if he really saw them she had left and closed the door behind her.

"So, about the victim." Dean spoke up, taking a drink of his beer. Sam took a tenative sip of his water, his mind whirling.

"Well..ah..?" THe mayor seemed flustered agian. For a moment he seemed unsure of what to do before he picked up the phone and asked Carry to send her in. Once he had finished he turned to Sam and Dean. "None of this leaves this room, understand?"

The boys nodded, then waited for a few minitues in the tense silence. Suddenly the door opened and in walked the black haired girl.

"This is Eclipse Kuromitsukai." THe mayor siadm, neverously pulling at the neck of his shirt.


	2. Chapter 2: Who is who?

_Thoughts_

"_Telepathic communications"_

_**Spell words**_

**Flash backs**

[_Author's notes_]

"So there auras are different than normal?" Eclipse asked Cody as they all went to the living room.

Cody nodded, sitting on the couch. "Sam's aura was red and gray, which for him is curious and thoughtful. Dean's was blue for relaxed yet there was brown in it for preparedness."

"I thought red meant angry?" Sarah asked confused, as she sat in the old rocking chair across from the couch.

"Sakura, did you ever listen to my lessons?" Eclipse asked her.

Sarah blushed, and opened her mouth to answer but Cody cut in.

"I bet she did, you just didn't make any sense." He said, receiving a glare from Eclipse. He ignored it and continued. "Anyways, their auras would be normal if they weren't tinged by black. Dean's aura is black right over his heart and Sam's outlines his whole aura. It's kina like a second skin."

"But it's not shadows right?" Eclipse asked him, seeming worried.

"No." Cod y shook his head. "By the way, did you bring your math notes Sarah?"

"Yeah." She pulled them out of her pocket. As she handed it to him, his cell phone started to ring.

"Yes?" Cody answered it. The person on the other end spoke briefly as he listened. "Sure, I'll check." Cody got up and mouthing "excuse me" he left the room just as Carry, his Dad's secretary came in.

"The Mayor would like to see you now Eclipse." She turned and left without waiting for her.

"Look at the blueprints of the theater; I know there's a secret passage there somewhere." Eclipse whispered, smiling mischievously. "Free movies here we come."

Sarah shook her head in disappointment but got up and kneeled next to the table and began flipping through the piles of blue prints. She picked up one pile Eclipse had already sorted and moved it to one side. As she did so one slipped off the bottom and fluttered to the floor. Picking it up, she looked at it. "Kuromitsukai…" She muttered, "Isn't that's Eclipse's last name?"

She was so absorbed in her thoughts that when the door shut she jumped. Looking up she saw Cody. "Geez, you scared me."

"Sorry." He said, "By the way that was Brandon."

"Really? What did he want?"

"He wanted me to email the rules for the scavenger hunt next week. Oh, and he wanted to ask Eclipse about something." Then seeing the shocked look on her face added, "Don't worry, I positive that he's not asking her to the dance."

Sarah sighed, still not reassured. "By the way, isn't this Eclipse's last name?"

"Yeah, it is…" Cody paused in thought. "Did you find that in the pile?"

"Yeah, the one Eclipse had already gone through. Do you think she knows about it?"

"Probably. My Dad once told me that Eclipse had ancestors that had lived here at one point. I thought he meant like one from a decade or two ago but it says here it was given to the mayor about twenty years ago."

"We can always ask her about it later." Sarah pushed it aside. "Let's just find the movie theater one."

Cody nodded and reached for a pile of the blueprints. "The passage was said to be near the right curtain or the right exit. It'll lead both outside as well as behind the screen."

Sarah nodded and went started looking through her pile of blueprints.

∞Ω∞

Eclipse smiled politely to the Winchesters, even though her heart was racing again. _How did they find us?_ Not letting her anxiety show she said, "Hello again."

The taller one couldn't hide his shock behind a smile fast enough so she saw it. _This must be Sam; hmmm…he has a cute smile- oh shut up me, they're hunters._

"Eclipse, this is Sam and Dean Winchester." Mayor Jacob said pointing to one than the other. "They're here to-" He was cut off by the phone beeping as Carry came over the intercom.

"Sir, the police chief is here for you." Her nasal voice was amplified by the volume of the speaker.

"Could you excuse me for a moment? There was a debate going on at the mall and it's probably started a spat. No, no you stay here. I should be back soon but if I'm not could you take them to their hotel Eclipse? It's the Hollow Pine."

Eclipse nodded as the mayor grabbed his coat. "I'm sorry about this, boys."

"It's ok sir." Sam said, "It'll be fine."

As soon as the door closed behind the Mayor Eclipse spoke up. "I take it this is about the vampire dude, right?"

"Uh, yeah." Sam said a little taken back by her brisk attitude. "We just wanted to-"

"Ask me a few questions, I know." She went and sat in the mayor's chair, placing her feet on his desk. "Well the vampire was tall, either 6'4" or 6'7". His hair was bleach blonde with black highlights and he was really pale as far as I could tell. He was wearing like a trench coat jacket, which was all black. He had fangs, two of them not a million before you ask." Eclipse added that as Sam had opened his mouth to double check that fact.

"Ok." Dean jumped in, glad things were moving along. "Now where did you see him?"

"In the forest near my mom's old house. I was exploring and he suddenly appeared.

"Did he try to attack you?" Sam asked.

"No, he just bared his fangs than ran off…" Eclipse glanced around the room. _What was that sound?_

"The other victims, the dead ones, were they out there when they were attacked?" Sam asked, as Dean took another drink of his beer.

"No, they were in different alleys of town, don't ask me exactly where, I wouldn't know."

"Well, did you know any of the other victims?" Dean spoke up again.

"It's a small town, but no I didn't. I've only been here a few months." She glanced out the window absent mindedly playing with a pen.

"Is there anywhere we can reach you in case we need to talk to you again?" Sam asked, handing her a slip of paper. "If you need us, call us here."

"Ok." Eclipses answered him, "And if you need to reach me just call the mayor. Cody knows how to get a hold of me."

Dean opened his mouth to comment when suddenly Eclipse jumped up, tensing.

"Damn it." Her fists clenched at her sides.

"What?" Dean asked, also rising to his feet, Sam following him.

"Trouble." Eclipse rushed out the door. The Winchesters following.

∞Ω∞

Cody yawned as he set the blueprints of the theater down. After Sarah had found them, they immediately started looking for abnormalities from the newer set of blueprints. At first glance they seemed exactly the same but looking closer things weren't exactly lined up. So far they had only found some pillars that had been moved with the addition of new seats.

"This is nuts. I don't know how Eclipse thinks that there is a secret passage. I've lived here longer and I've never heard of it." Sarah complained as she wearily rubbed her eyes.

"It's old legend that Miss Maria told her." Cody explained, referring to the owner of Maygik Remedies Emporium. "My Dad knew about it too. He said he never told me because he didn't want me to get in trouble for trying to find it."

"Well he is right. You're going to get in trouble doing this. You and Eclipse always get into trouble."

Cody laughed, "Of course, her plans are all dangerous to good reputations. Anyways, my curiosity has always been a little extravagant."

"Yeah it-" Sarah began, but was cut off by a thump out in the hall. "What was that?"

Cody shrugged and got up. Slowly he got up and proceeded to the door, Sarah following him. He opened the door, to see a tall man in a black cloak, coat thing. His hair was blonde with black highlights.

"Well hello there." He said turning and looking right into her eyes. Sarah gasped, his eyes were red, red like blood.

"Who are you?" Cody bravely asked, moving to stand in front of her.

The man laughed, suddenly appearing in front of them. He smashed Cody down the hall where he remained unconscious.

"_Crap, this is not good."_ A female voice sounded. Sarah looked around for the owner but didn't find it.

"You smell good, delicious in fact."

"_Run Sarah." _The voice came again. When she didn't move the voice continued, _"I'd better get Max."_

In a moment of pure chance it hit Sarah. The voice wasn't speaking out loud, it was in her head.

"_Finally. My name's Ruby. We have time for questions though. Start running now, Max is on her way."_

_What?_ Sarah thought, but Ruby just continued to prompt her to run. Sarah took a step back, freezing when the man's hand shot out and grabbed her by the throat.

"I'll choke you if you struggle, now don't move, we're about to receive a guest I'd like to bargain with." He smirked.

∞Ω∞

Eclipse ran down the hall, pausing only slightly by the door before racing up the stairs. Dean followed her, at the last second pulling out his gun. Behind him Sam slipped on a book he had knocked off the shelves that lined the staircase.

"Hey." Dean called to Eclipse who ignored him and continued running. She was pulling ahead of him despite his longer stride. She disappeared around the corner. Seconds later he turned the corner, stopping immediately so he didn't smack into Eclipse who had stopped and was looking down the hall at something.

As Sam finally caught up he saw the vampire down the hall, holding Sarah by the throat and Cody prone on the floor.

"Ah hello again little witch." The vampire spoke up, reviling his fangs. Eclipse just glared back. "Don't tell me you're not happy to see me."

Eclipse took in the situation quickly and started to rush forward but Dean grabbed the hood of her sweatshirt and yanked her back. "Let me and Sam deal with this. This is what we do."

"It's Sam and I dimwit." Eclipse grumbled, slipping out of her sweatshirt and running down the hall. She swung her fist out, causing the vampire to laugh. He stopped suddenly as the knife that she had concealed in her palm connected with his side.

Angrily he swung for her head, but she dodged it and darted just to the limit of his reach. He pulled the knife out and scowled even more. Holding Sarah father away from him, he swung at Eclipse with her knife. She ducked, dodging it again, causing an opening in the vampire's guard. Dean noticed the opening and took the chance to shoot the vampire once.

In retaliation the vampire threw Sarah at Dean, who dropped his gun to catch and in the process crashed into Sam. As they untangled themselves, the vampire reached out for Eclipse who was checking on Cody. He grabbed her by her arm and swung her into the wall and trapped her there with his forearm.

"Once again you choose to be hostile little witch." He took a closer look at the knife in his hand. The blade flashed red as the light hit his blood on it. "Though this time you're efforts disappoint me. A silver knife, did you honestly think that it would work on me?" He wiped it off as Eclipse glared at him.

"Put her down." Sam shouted, pointing his gun at the vampire. Dean followed suit after gently propping Sarah against the wall.

The vampire looked at them with a mixture of scorn and amusement. "Keeping company with hunters? What _would_ your brother think?"

Eclipse struggling came to an abrupt halt, pain filtering across her face briefly, before cold fury replaced it. Her struggling renewed. "Itachi you bastard."

"Well it looks like we'll have to continue our little conversation another time." Itachi purred. He threw her a little ways down the hall where she smashed into the wall.

Sam and Dean aimed to fire but stopped when they saw that Itachi had picked up Cody and was using him as a shield.

"How about I'll return after this little snack." Itachi gently shook Cody while he licked his lips for emphasis.

"Cody." Eclipse coughed out angrily, slowly rising to her feet.

Itachi laughed as he stepped back towards the window. A look of dark, twisted amusement was on his face as he met Eclipse's eyes. He was so intent on causing her anguish that he failed to notice the figure in the shadows behind him in the shadows. As he took another step towards the window the figure moved to stand behind him.

"Hey Itachi, aren't you forgetting something." Eclipse spoke up.

"And what's that?" Itachi asked, taking the bait.

"Ruby." Eclipse said so quietly the Winchesters had to strain to hear her.

"Hey." The figure answered her, stepping into the light. She looked to be about twenty-two, twenty-four. Her hair was blonde and fell past her shoulders. She was of medium height, although the way she stood made her seem taller. She swung her fist into Itachi's side, making him lose his grip on Cody. Quicker than possible she moved to Eclipse side and gently laid Cody down.

Eclipse looked up at her, her emotions of joy and shock visible for a moment before disappearing behind a mask. She nodded, "Thanks Ruby."

Ruby nodded, smiling. Out of the corner of her eye she glanced at Sam and Dean who were watching both them and Itachi as he crept to the window. Turning to him she spoke up, "I'd leave faster bloodsucker. You're time will come to an end soon."

Itachi bared his fangs angrily as he jumped out the window. Eclipse dashed to the window, Sam and Dean following her. "Damn…" She muttered.

"Eclipse?" A quite voice grabbed their attention.

"Sarah?" Eclipse dashed back to her friend. "Are you ok?"

Sarah nodded, rubbing her head. "I'm going to have a bad head ache though? What happened?"

"A v-" Sam started but Eclipse cut him off.

"A nut job dressed as a vampire came in and decided to attack you guys." She answered, glaring at Sam, daring him to disagree. ""When he saw these two he split real quickly."

Sarah smiled gratefully at the Winchesters. "Thanks." She said, smiling embarrassedly. Then her face fell, "What about Cody?"

"He's fine." Cody said appearing over Eclipse's shoulder. "I'm going to have a wicked bruise on my side but that's it."

Eclipse smiled relieved. "Well that was interesting." She commented, helping Sarah to her feet. "I wanted life to get more interesting and look what I get."

"Could we get back to our discussion from earlier?" Sam asked, just as the grandfather clock in the hall started to chime one.

"Shit." Eclipse muttered, "I'm going to be late for work, later." She ran down the stairs in a rush.

"Well, that was…" Dean muttered.

"Eclipse." Cody put in. "That's Eclipse."

Sarah smiled at the joke. "She'll be working until four or five. If you want I can tell you where she'll be."

"Is it ok to talk to her while she's working?" Sam asked, looking at her in confusion for a moment. He shook his head to clear it.

"Of course." She answered, oblivious to what he had just done. "It's the Maygik Remedies Emporium. It's on Spice road, the building with the ivy surrounding the door."

"Spice road is the main road in town." Cody supplied, not nearly as trusting as Sarah. "Would you like me to show you?"

"No thanks we'll be fine. Thank you for offering though." Sam said, turning to go.

"Thank you again!" Sarah called to the Winchesters as they walked down the stairs. _The shorter one was kind of cute._

"_He's too old for you. Good choice though. That's exactly who I would have chosen." _Ruby commented, causing Sarah to jump_. "By the way they really didn't do much."_

_Liar. Eclipse wouldn't have lied about what happened. _Sarah thought back, following Cody back into the living room. Seeing the mess of blue prints scattered across the floor she groaned.

"Let's just clean them up." Cody suggested and the nearest blueprints and stacking them on them table. "Eclipse can help us resort them later."

Sarah smiled half-heartedly. "It just sucks that all the work we did was for nothing."

"Not nothing, we found out that Eclipse is hiding something that has to do with those two guys."

"I don't know. They seem like cops, not some shady cult members, which I know was what you were thinking about." Cody blushed guiltily. "You just don't like them."

"Duh." He paused, still holding a pile of blueprints. "That Sam one and her kept glancing at each other when the other wasn't looking."

"So you're jealous?" Sarah joked, "I don't think Eclipse knows them very well. They sure didn't know anything about her."

"Not that we know that much either." Cody muttered too quietly for her to hear. "You seemed different too for a second."

"What did you say Cody?" Sarah asked.

"_That boy's smart. Hmmm I wonder."_ Ruby butted in.

_Shut up._ Sarah shot back, missing the look of surprise that flashed across Cody's face. She placed the last blueprints on the table. "All done."

"Good. I'd better let you go." Cody commented, "You've probably got some stuff to do to get ready for the dance tomorrow."

Sarah nodded than distractedly, "Oh my gosh, I forgot to grab that stuff for my dress." She shrieked suddenly as what he had said registered.

"Be careful!" Cody called after her as she dashed out of the room. Now alone with his thoughts he grabbed the blueprints of the Kuromitsukai place and went to his room. Looking them over he searched for the hint that Ruby had told him existed on it.

∞Ω∞

"Eclipse, you're late." Miss Maria sang out as Eclipse crashed through the back door of Maygik Remedies Emporium into the green house of the shop.

Eclipse smiled embarrassedly. "Sorry Naő. I was having some boy trouble." Her face darkened, "Itachi showed up at Cody's."

[a/n: Naő is pronounced Nay-oh.]

"That young man is disappointing." Maria commented as she stepped out from behind the plants she had been trimming. Her wild gray hair was restrained in a braid that fell to her waist. Behind her glasses her gray eyes flashed angrily. "First he dabbles in the black arts and then he continues to chase after you." She motioned for Eclipse to take the basket of leaves she was holding.

"Well, he's not really that bad. I mean I'd take care of him, but it would cause trouble." She shrugged indifferently.

"With who? You mean there are more boys, right?" Maria looked at her expectantly.

"You know me too well Naő." She smiled in defeat. "Yeah there are. Winchesters."

"Max, no." Maria gasped. "Does that mean you and Ruby will be leaving soon?"

Eclipse nodded. "Sorry Naő."

"No, no it's Max. Relax. If's it's anyone's fault it's that weasel Itachi's for forcing you into this predicament."

"Naő, I'm not up to full strength." She looked at her feet. "The rites may.."

Maria looked at her in shock. " No, Maxine Kuro-"

"Naő!" Eclipse scolded her. "Eclipse." She stressed. Motioning for silence she cocked her head, hearing something. Stepping lightly to the window she glanced outside. "Never mind." She took a half step away and then pivoted back, swing the widow open in a quick move.

A muffled thump followed by the sound of metal hitting something. Maria followed Eclipse to the door and arrived just as Eclipse wrestled someone through the door way.

"Brandon." She angrily muttered, letting him go. "What are you doing sneaking around?"

"I was on my way over here to talk to you about something when Cody called. He wanted to know if you were up to anything suspicious."

"Cody?" Eclipse sighed, then muttered quietly. "Ruby."

"Well, now that I'm here," He shifted nervously from foot to foot, "Can I talk to you?"

"Sure." Maria spoke up. "She has to finish cleaning up first though."

"But Naő, I have to work today. I promised I would help out today!"

"Eclipse, it's fine. Come back later though, ok? I have something to discuss with you."

"Yes Naő." She answered Maria, then turned to Brandon. "I'll meet you outside in fifteen minutes, okay?"

Brandon nodded. "Sorry for sneaking around."

"That's fine." Eclipse said accepting his apology as she started sweeping the floor. "Just use the front entrance so you don't bump into any other eavesdroppers.

Brandon left, confused. Maria followed him, shaking her head. Eclipse continued sweeping, ignoring the two almost inaudible thumps that indicated Sam and Dean's exit.

"Idiots." Eclipse mumbled, grabbing the dustpan. Moving more gracefully than humanly possible, she swept the dirt and leaves into the dustpan in one smooth move. Emptying in into the trash can, she paused and looked over her shoulder at the window. Seeing nothing she flicked off the light and left.

∞Ω∞

Sam and Dean sat comfortably in the Impala as they waited for Eclipse to come out of Maygick Remedies Emporium. The boy, Brandon was sitting outside on a bench, looking at his phone.

"Do you really think she knew we were there?" Sam asked Dean, leafing through their dad's journal. So far he could find no mention of a vampire with two fangs.

"No she didn't Sam. You couldn't be human if you heard us." Dean turned the radio up as a Metallica song came on the radio. "Relax."

"Dean." Sam glanced at him, and Dean turned the volume back down with a sigh."

"What Sammy?"

"Are you sure you don't want to be looking for a way out of your deal?"

"No." Dean's face hardened. "Sam, I told you. If I try to get out of my deal, you die."  
They fell into a tense silence, Sam once again flipping through the pages of their dad's journal. When Eclipse came out of the shop they snapped to attention. Sam opened the window as Dean turned the music off so they could hear what was said.

"Ok Brandon, what's up?" She asked, leaning against the wall.

"Well...I was…" He shyly stuttered, then gathering his courage. "Well one does Sarah have a date to homecoming yet?"

"No." Eclipse answered emotionless.

"Then is it ok if I ask her?" He rushed over the words.

Eclipse laughed. "Of course! Did you really think I'd care?" Her smile grew mischievous. "Do I scare you?"

Brandon blushed. "No …I'm not… I'm not afraid of anything."

She looked at him steadily, her face serious. "You know you should."

"Is that a threat?" Brandon asked, more shocked than angry.

"No. Sorry just some nonsense. Forget it." She assured him, seeming to snap out of a trance.

"Oh." He shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot. "Ok."

"Well, come on. Let's go find Sarah so you can ask." She smiled encouragingly. "Don't worry. She'll definitely say yes, so don't panic."

"I'm not panicking." He mumbled, but Eclipse had already turned away. Quickly he caught up with her. Together they walked down the street to the bus stop at the corner.

Sam turned to Dean, who nodded getting what he was suggesting. Dean drove over to the bus stop.

"Hey Eclipse!" Sam called out as Dean pulled up to the curb. "Is that you?"

Eclipse noticed them, and smiled. "Hey Sam, Dean. What's up?'

"We were attempting to find our hotel-"

"Oh shit, that's right. I was supposed to take you guys there. Sorry." Sorrow crossed her face before it brightened. "Well I can show you now if you'd like."

"That'd be nice; in return we could give you a ride." Dean spoke up, "Get in, and no complaining about the music."

Eclipse smiled gratefully. "That won't be a problem. Thanks."

Sam climbed out of the care and moved the seat forward. Brandon climbed in first, trying not to stare at Dean. As Eclipse moved to follow him, someone passing behind them bumped, into her, knocking her off balance. Sam reached out and grabbed her arm and pulled her into to him so she wouldn't fall. Like when their hands had brushed earlier, he felt a continuous shockwave up and down his arm.

"You ok?"He asked her, letting go of her. The shockwave stopped, leaving his arm feeling numb.

"I'm fine." She answered. "Thank you." _ Gosh… he's strong. _She felt the blood rise to her cheeks. "Sorry, usually my balance is better." _What was that feeling? Twice now it's happened…well at least I accomplished my goal._

"It's ok." Sam told her as she climbed into the back of the Impala. He placed the seat back and sat down. He mind was trying to figure out what had happened. What that feeling had been.

Dean carefully looked at his brother's face. He could tell that Sam was grappling with something that wouldn't fit together. Catching his eyes, he frowned. Sam, understanding that he wanted to know later, nodded.

Satisfied Dean pulled away from the curb, listening to Eclipse directions. After about fifteen to twenty minutes, she told him to take a right and they saw the hotel.

"Would you be willing to drop us off at the library next to it? A friend's there we'd like to talk to." Eclipse politely asked.

"Sure." Dean answered, turning into the library parking lot. "Thank you for showing us where it was."

"You're welcome. Well, enjoy your stay there. It's a nice hotel." She told them, as her and Brandon climbed out of the Impala and headed into the library.

Dean looked around as Sam climbed back into the car. "Hey." He motioned a shadowy figure in an alley, one wearing a black trench coat. "Colt."

Sam nodded and reached into his belt. "Ummmm."

"What? Don't tell me you never grabbed it." Dean angrily looked at his brother.

"I put it in my pocket as soon as we left the Mayor's house. I remember last checking if it was there after we got back in the car from spying on Ecl- Damn it! When she bumped into me she must have grabbed it."

"Damn her! I'm going to kill her!" Dean roared, clenching his fists. "I knew there was something odd about the way she acted when we questioned her." He climbed out of the car, Sam following.

"Dean, calm down." Sam looked at him carefully. "She's just a kid."

"Not a normal kid! Come on Sam tell how that's normal? A kid attacking a freaking vampire with a _silver_ knife?" Dean was pacing now. "And that ghost, apparition thing, Ruby. She didn't freak out at that. No, instead she was just hunky-dory with her."

"Dean calm down. We'll talk to her tomorrow, okay? Let's go to the hotel for a bit." Sam steered Dean to the car.

Once they reached to hotel room Sam remembered the figure. Glancing out of the widow he could just see the alley where it had been. The figure was no longer there. Suddenly his phone rang, making him jump.

"Hello?" He answered it. Dean walked out of the bathroom, heading over to him.

"Sam, tomorrow Sarah is going to homecoming. Eclipse should be there and I think you should talk to her."

"Cody?" Sam's eyes widened. Dean looked shocked as well.

"Yeah. I know this is weird but I think Eclipse is-" Static cut him off.

"Cody?" Sam called, hearing the static fade. Dean grabbed the phone out his hand.

"Hey handsome." A female voice was on the phone now. "Cody's fine, sorry for cutting him off." You could hear the smirk in her voice. "I just wanted to give you a bit of friendly advice, leave us alone. Max and I don't appreciate the nuisance you've caused us."

The static disappeared and Cody's voice came back through. "Sam? Dean?"

"This is Dean." Dean commented, looking at Sam. "What?"

"Well, I'll just meet you outside the school gym at eight tomorrow. Please be there, it's important." He hung up hurriedly.

"What was that about" Dean asked Sam, who shrugged.

"I don't know, why would Cody want to meet us? And what's so important?"

"Tomorrow at eight we'll figure it out." Dean said, "For now let's get some sleep."

∞Ω∞

** I ran, my footsteps echoing across the bare floor. "Brother!" My voice quaked with fear. "Brother!" A deep pain in my shoulder sent me crashing to my knees. My vision narrowed to a stripe. It grew larger if I tried to focus, but barely.**

**"Little witch." His voice came from next to my ear. "Shall I-"**

**"Max!" Brother's voice came from a few steps away. "Back off Itachi!" He was angry now. Without being able to see him I knew his ice blue eyes had darkened with gray fury.**

**I forced myself to climb to my feet. Going through the wards that guarded Ruby's room I grabbed her hand and dragged her out into the hall. Itachi and Leon were fighting, Itachi with a sword, Leon his trusty knife. I lead Ruby down the hall.**

**"Max?" She questioned me, trying to keep the free out of her voice. "Where are we going?"**

**"To Naő, she's just outside with a car. She's gonna get you out of here." Her voice was steady and comforting although she didn't know it. Immediately assured by her tone, Ruby relaxed a bit. We ran out the back door and on to a long paved driveway.**

**"Over here girls." Naő called us over to a car. "Hurry up you two."**

**"Thanks Naő. Can you take her to your house for a bit?" I asked, turning back towards the house.**

**"Where are you going Max?" Naő called after me.**

**"Leon's still inside. I'm not leaving him." I ran into the house, ignoring her shouts.**

**Quickly I made it back to the hall where Leon was still fighting Itachi. So far Leon as doing well, having hit Itachi a few times while sustaining no hits himself. As I watched Leon dodged another hit, and danced down the hall. Along his arms I could see black marks moving and shifting.**

**"Oh look." Itachi spoke up, having noticed me. "The little witch."**

**Leon whirled around, looking shocked. "Max, get out of here!" He commanded me.**

**"Not without you! Come on let's go." I shouted back, my stubborn nature taking over.**

**"Max!" He shouted, and shoved me. I fell and rolled to absorb the shock. Rising quickly to my feet I looked at Leon.**

**"Leon!" I screamed staring at the sword sticking out of his chest. A red circle started to blossom around it. Over his shoulder I saw Itachi's grinning face. I glared at him in repulsion and anger.**

**"Max." I heard a soft plea coming from Leon. Whether it was spoken out loud or in my mind I couldn't tell. "Run." I heard it again. I turned and ran, my mind still seeing the shocked look of fear on Leon's face. And the hidden look of blame.**

"No!" Eclipse gasped sitting up in bed. Looking around she glanced at the moon out the window. _Ugh. The one night I actually needed to sleep and I can't._

_"You never needed to sleep before." _ Ruby commented. Eclipse could hear the smirk in her voice.

_"So nice of you to speak up." _Eclipse shot back. _"How come you never told me you could manifest like that?" _

_"I didn't know. I tried it again but it didn't work. So don't think I lied."_

_"I never said you did. It just shocked me." _ Eclipse's got up, and looked at the clock. _"Only midnight? Well that'll give me enough time to go pop over for a visit."_

_"You know going back is only going to make you feel worse?" _Ruby said, her voice full of pity. _"Please don't. "_

_"If you really don't want me too, then fine." _Eclipse walked down the hall to the study. _"Well since I can't sleep I have to say something. Why the heck did you appear in front of the Winchesters? They were already suspicious of me, now I bet I'm a prime suspect in their damn case."_

_"Well Cody was in trouble, I can't let him pay for our mistakes." _ Ruby's voice was full of pain. _ "I know you feel the same way."_

_"I know. It's just that we're going to have to leave again."_

_"Not that you care. It'll make you happy to be back on the road hunting."_

_"You'll like it too." _ Eclipse blushed. _ "Tomorrow's going to be our last night here, so be ready."_

_"I am, and you'd better be too." _ Ruby's voice slowly faded away.

Eclipse sighed deeply, guilt flooding her heart. Pushing it back she raised her head. _"Finally I'll get to be Max again."_

∞Ω∞

Sarah pulled gently at her hair, freeing one of the curls that had become entangled with her earring. "Why won't it stay?" She whined, "Brandon's going to hate me!" She smoothed down the skirt of her pale pink dress. It fell to her knees and fluffed out at the end.

"Would you relax?" Eclipse told her, shaking her head. Her hair was straightened, falling to just above her shoulders. She was wearing a black dress that fell to just above her knees in a loose fashion. "He asked you out without seeing you in the dress, so what makes you think he actually cares what you wear?"

"Could you be any less girly? Of course not looking perfect can ruin a date!" Sarah yelled back, slipping on her three inch high heels.

"Nut job!" Eclipse sang out, putting on her own sensible half inch heels.

"I am not a nut-" The door bell rang cutting her off.

"Hey Brandon." Eclipse answered the door. "Sarah!" She called up the stairs. "Sasuke's here!"

"Who?" Brandon asked her, nervously fidgeting with the corsage box he was holding.

"You stupid. You've got a million girls who want you and haven't paid them any mind." Eclipse explained matter-of-factly.

He glared at her, and she smirked back. Sticking out her tongue she quickly scaled the stairs, coming back down seconds later with Sarah in tow. "Ahh, Sakura and Sasuke. Such a sweet couple."

Both glared at her as she grabbed her sweatshirt. Slipping it on she skipped out the door. Brandon and Sarah followed after he put the corsage on her wrist and helped her into her coat. The followed Eclipse down the block to they're school.

∞Ω∞

Dean looked around for Cody as he pulled into the back parking lot of the school gym. He saw him leaning on the building, looking at something in his hands. When he looked up and saw them he walked over to the Impala.

"I found this when I was looking at some old blueprints." He showed them a picture of a signature on the blue prints. It said donated by: Max Eclipse Kuromitsukai.

"That's Eclipse's mom correct?" Sam spoke up, wondering where this was going.

"That's what I thought till I recognized something." He pulled out a sheet of notebook paper. "This is Eclipse's signature." He turned the paper around to show them a short note. Eclipse had signed her name: Eclipse Maxine Kuromitsukai.

"Ok, what is the connection?" Dean jumped in, confused.

While Sam shot him annoyed glare, Cody answered him. "Well, as you can see both signatures arm written extremely similar as well as having a twist on the order of words. I checked all over on the web for anyone named Max Kuromitsukai and her daughter. I found a few entries on Max. It said she was wanted at one point for digging up graves and arsonist, among other things. I found nothing, not even a birth record for an Eclipse Kuromitsukai.

"Oh. So you think they're the same person. Doesn't the age difference come into play?" Dean asked what was also on Sam's mind.

"Not if she's not entirely human. As I was searching online I found this legend of a family of "dark angels". It said they could appear younger if they used some of their "magic." Whether or not they were referring to herb magic or magic-magic, I have no idea."

"Where'd you find this? On what site?" Sam questioned, curious.

"On Miss Maria's shop website. There is a legends link there for this area. "

"How'd you make the connection Cody?" Sam asked.

"Well, Kuromitsukai means "dark angel" in japanese." He explained, glancing over his shoulder. "I'm going to find Eclipse. Could you guys try and get the truth out of her when I bring her out? "

"Sure." Sam answered, still puzzeling over all this new information. As Cody left he turned to Dean. "Remember the conversation Eclipse had with that Naő person? Miss Maria I guess. Well, it looks like there was only her and Eclipse in the room, not a third person like we thought."

"It does make more sense they way Eclipse reacted then. But still it's a stretch. There is nothing in Dad's journal about a shape changer that's still partially human beside a skin walker. Not that they're really human though." Dean added, pulling the car around the corner of the gym. He climbed out and walked to the trunk.

"A gun?" Sam questioned his choice. "Do we even need weapons?"

"Sammy, grab something now."

Sam gave in and grabbed a knife with a curved blade, called the Klaww of Death. "Better?" He asked, slipping it into the waistband of his jeans. Next he grabbed some rope

Dean chose not to dignify that with an answer. Instead he crept to the corner of the building and looked around it. Sam followed him, also peering around the corner. They waited like this for a few more seconds till they heard Cody.

"Come on Eclipse, I just want to talk ok?" His voice was persuading as he stepped out the door.

"Privately evidently. Extremely privately based on the location." Eclipse followed him out the door, a backpack on her shoulders. Cody maneuvered her so that her back was to the Winchesters.

Cody started to mumble to her as Dean and Sam moved up behind Eclipse. As soon as they drew near enough to grab her she spun around, her backpack falling to the ground.

"Hey!" She cried as Dean grabbed her, "What the hell?"

He dragged her over to the Impala. "Who are you?" He asked, trying to keep his voice down so he didn't alert the people in the gym.

"You know who I am you son of a bitch!" She cried out angrily. "Would you let me go?"

"No, who are you really?" Sam asked, his tone encouraging. "We know your names not really Eclipse so what is it?"

"What?" Eclipse asked confused. "I have no idea wh-"

She was cut off by another voice as it broke into their conversation. "They know the truth you might as well tell them."

"Ruby?" Eclipse sounded shock. She wiggled out of Dean's grasp and turned to see the apparition of her friend there. "Let me guess, you already knew."

"Yep, and they can help you, so tell them what to do." She looked at the Winchesters. "One of you can speak Latin pretty well right?"

Sam nodded in his shock.

"Well then why not take out that little piece of paper Cody snuck to you and start reading it." Ruby smirked at Dean, "You just sit there handsome."

Dean opened his mouth to argue but froze as he saw Eclipse's shape blur. It grew longer and solidified. Where Eclipse had been standing, there was a girl that looked to be in her twenties. Her hair was a light, coppery brown with barely noticeable blonde highlights. It was straight and fell to just above her shoulders. She seemed to be around 5'11". She stood tall, on the balls of her fight in the stance of a natural or well-learned fighter.

"Much better." She muttered, rolling her shoulders. "You agree Ruby?"

"Max, don't try and change the subject." Ruby scolded her, looking at her steadily.

Max ignored her for a bit, then suddenly began to shuffle her feet. "Fine, fine, fine!" She exclaimed after a bit, sending an answering glare to Ruby's smirk. Slowly she began to chant in Latin, her voice steady and clear.

Sam looked at the paper in his hand and found where Max was. He started to chant with her, intently looking at the words on the page. Behind him Cody was staring in shock at Ruby, who had started glowing.

Max finished her chanting, and looked at Ruby who was still glowing. After a bit the glow faded and in its place was a girl also around her twenties. Her hair was blonde, falling past her shoulders. She was wearing jeans with a magenta tank top. Sewed along the bottom of the tank top was a design of black flowers and vines.

Dean stared at her in shock. While she had been apparition like she had been covered in shadows that had made it hard to see her clearly. Now that she wasn't covered in the shadows she looked…_hot._ He couldn't help but think.

"Look, Mr. Tough guy is speechless." Max smirked as Dean's mouth snapped shut. She smiled at Ruby who blushed.

He glared at her, having remembered something. "Give back the colt."

Max looked at him innocently. "Colt? What are you talking about?"

Sam looked at her levelly. "The gun you stole from my pocket. The one can kill anything."

"Hold on." Ruby cut in, "Max, is it?"

"Yep." Max answered, ignoring the boys' confused expressions.

"So you do have it." Dean angrily growled, "Give it back or so help me I'll shoot you."

"Ruby, now?" Max sighed in defeat, Ruby picked up her backpack. Looking at Dean Max smiled evilly. "How about no." She took off running, Ruby right next to her.

"Bye handsome!" Ruby called back, running.

Dean, cursing chased after them with Sam. Cody stayed behind, and walked back into the dance.

∞Ω∞

Max and Ruby raced down an alley as behind them, Sam and Dean where slowing gaining. As the boys drew closer, Max gave Ruby a nudge with her hand, and turned around in attack position. Ruby raced up the stairs to the door of a house and ran inside.

As the boys arrived, Sam moved to follow Ruby but was cut off by Max. She glared at him as he tried to sneak around her. He shifted into an attack stance.

"Why don't you just give us the colt back. Then we'll leave peacefully and no one gets hurt." Sam tried top persuaded her.

"No." Max answered sharply. She dodged Sam's swing easily and sent a kick his way. He blocked it, catching her arm as she threw a punch at him. He twisted her arm and forced her to her knees.

As he moved to grab her other arm, Max twisted and kicked his shin. In one smooth, practiced movement she pulled the klaww of death out of his pocket and swung it up to his throat. "Don't move or I'll kill you." She whispered, breathing hard from the running and fighting. "And I really will."

∞Ω∞

Dean easily found the back door of the house Ruby had gone into. Picking the lock in record time he quietly crept up the stairs where he bumped into Ruby. Grabbing her wrist when she tried to hit him he twisted the colt out of her hands. "So your friend did steal it." He commented, still holding on to her wrist.

"Let go." She angrily tried to twist out of his grasp. "Let go…" Her voice softened as she slowly collapsed to the floor.

Carefully Dean scooped her up in his arms and carried her outside to see Max holding a knife to Sam's throat. Setting Ruby gently down on the grass he pulled back the hammer of the colt. "Move and you're dead."

∞Ω∞

Max heard the click of a gun being cocked. "Move and you're dead." Dean's voice came from behind her.

"I see you found the colt." She commented, allowing Sam to take back the klaww of death.

"Yeah, I did. Your friend Ruby here found it for me." He responded, still pointing the colt at her.

"What?" Max asked. She spun around and felt a sharp pain as Dean hit her with the butt of the gun. Everything faded to black.

∞Ω∞

[a/n: sorry but this is going to be a long one. I have a few issues that I feel need to be addressed.

I do not own supernatural or any of the characters

The Japanese translations come from a free English to Japanese dictionary on line so for Kuromitsukai I used the words "kuro" meaning dark and "mitsukai" meaning angel. This may not actually mean that in Japanese so don't take it too literal.

The" klaww of death" (or "alien claw") is the curved blade we see Sam holding on the cover of the season one DVDs. I learned its name on the website: .. So I'm not sure if it's the real name or not, but since I couldn't find any other I went with that.

The Ruby here, though looking similar to the demon Ruby in season 3, is not the same person. From now on when writing the demon Ruby's name I'll write it as such: RUBY. (not very creative I know but it works.

Ok that's it. Hope you enjoyed the second chapter. The third will be coming as soon as I finish it. ]


	3. CH 3 Falling Into Place

Chapter 3- Falling Into Place

_Thoughts_

"_Telepathic Communications"_

_**Visons/Dreams**_

**Flashbacks**

The first thing that Ruby became aware of as she slowly woke was Max's mind. Anger, dark and strong was burning through their connection. Tentatively Ruby reached out to calmly push against Max's mind with her own.

"_Relax." _ She whispered, feeling Max's anger lessen a little as relief flooded through her mind.

"_You're ok."_ Max telepathically sent back, then added. _"Be careful, these guys are pretty good hunters."_

Ruby opened her eyes slowly. Sitting up she looked around for Max. Instead she came face to face with Dean who was sitting in a chair by the door of the room. "You're finally awake." He commented.

"What the hell?" Ruby stared at him in shock.

"Yeah, I'm handsome I know. It's nothing to be too shocked about." Dean answered her, smirking. In his hands he held the colt.

Ruby glared at him. "Where's Max?" She asked, climbing out of the bed. Glancing quickly around the room she realized they were in a hotel. A door was opened into the adjoining room, showing the same set up as the one she was in. One double bed, a couch and a short hallway with a bathroom attached.

"In here." Max called from the other room having heard her. Ruby moved to the door, hearing Dean get up and follow her.

"Max!" Ruby cried out when she saw her friend tied to a chair in the middle of the room. Angrily she whirled to glare at Dean who had come to stand behind her. "Let her go."

"No. She tried to kill Sam so I think she deserves a little time out." Dean smirked again, though Ruby could see the fury in his eyes that was directed at Max. "Besides she hasn't answered any questions and I'd like to know exactly how she can change shape." He grabbed Ruby by the arm and towed her to the bed, pushing her so she'd sit down on it.

Sam was sitting on the couch, looking at his lap top. Next to him were a machete and a gun. His attention was divided between the lap top and Max who was still struggling against the ropes that bound her to the chair.

"Find anything Sam?" Dean asked Sam, opening a beer.

"Nope." Sam answered, shutting the lap top. "Only what Cody told us."

Dean frowned. "Well then let's go back to asking Max questions."

Sam nodded, and looked at Max, who met his gaze unflinchingly. Her face was empty of all emotion, though Ruby could still feel the anger still burning through her, though it had died down a bit. "How'd you change your shape?" His voice was calm and persuasive. It reminded her of Max trying to get information out of people. She sounded just the same, though she didn't quite have the same sincerity in her eyes that he did.

Max just looked at him. After a moment he looked away, uncomfortable.

"My brother asked you a question." Dean's voice was low and dangerous. "I suggest you answer him."

Max looked at him, he shifted slightly but didn't turn away. Stepping forward Dean raised the colt up to her eyes. She looked at it, then back at him. "What's your point?"

"Tell us or I'll shoot." He bluffed convincingly.

Max laughed. "Next time, be a little more convincing. You're dealing with a master when it comes to lying."

Dean glared at her, turning to the door as they heard a knock. He went to the door and opened it. "RUBY." He said, letting her in.

[a/n: remember RUBY= the demon and Ruby= the human.]

"Sam, Dean." She greeted them. Looking around she spotted Max and Ruby. "Well, well. Look at that. Ruby Colt and her guardian angel, Max."

Sam and Dean looked at her in shock. "Colt? As in a descendant of Samuel Colt?" Sam acting as the spokesperson for their thoughts.

Ruby glared at RUBY. "Do you always blurt out secrets whenever you feel like it?"

RUBY looked at her confused. "What?" Then it dawned on her what Ruby had meant. "You mean you didn't tell them?"

"Duh stupid. Like you, we need to keep some secrets to function with other people. Especially hunters, which you understand perfectly." Max spoke up smirking.

RUBY's eyes flashed black as her anger showed her true identity. "Well at least the boys figured out exactly how to deal with you."

Max glared back at RUBY. "Watch it or as soon as I'm free I'll kill you, slowly." She smiled evilly. "Or send you back to hell. Either way you suffer."

RUBY turned to Sam. "Killing her would be best. She's a danger to both of you." She added looking at Dean.

"No." Ruby interrupted. "I'll explain what I can if you don't." She felt Max send some calming thoughts as panic rose within her.

Dean looked at her, seeing the sincerity in her eyes. Deeper yet he could see the same pain he'd felt when Sam had died. "Fine."

Ruby felt her panic lessen and mentally sighed. Max withdrew slightly from her mind, taking away the rest of the panic she had felt.

"What? This isn't time to get distracted by a pretty face Dean." RUBY angrily turned to Sam. "Sam, try and get Dean to see some sense."

"No." Sam was looking at the floor. "There's no real proof she'll actually turn out to be too dangerous for Dean and me to handle."

"I take that as an insult." Max said and Ruby shot her a look.

"_I'd shut up if you'd like to live." _She telepathically commented. _"Got it."_

"_Fine. No need to be so bossy." _Max answered her, rolling her eyes.

"Sam, you're going to regret it." RUBY looked pissed as she walked out the door.

"So you'll tell us what we want to know?" Dean asked Ruby. She nodded in answer. "Ok then, first question. How do you know RUBY?"

"She helped me out on a difficult hunt when Max couldn't." Ruby looked at Max, then out the window. She pushed down the bad memories that had caused that situation. Again she felt Max send her a sense of peace. _"Thanks."_ Ruby told her friend.

"What were you hunting?" Sam asked.

"Doesn't matter." Ruby answered, looking between the boys sternly.

"_Good Ruby." _Max happily commented. _"That was perfect."_

"_Shut up." _Ruby wearily sent back. _"It's your fault we're in this mess in the first place."_

"_Well excuse me." _Max withdrew from her mind, taking with her the dark feelings that had welled up in her.

"Well, anyways..." Dean said. "Next question, how'd Max change her shape?"

"She has a pendant that allows her to. I'm not exactly sure how it works." Ruby looked at Max encouraging her to speak up.

"Fine." Max relented after a few seconds. She turned to face Dean and Sam. "This pendant has symbols that allow it to soak in the earth's supernatural energy. Using it I'm able to direct it mentally to alter my appearance. Though it only works for about a month or two."

"Earth's supernatural energy?" Sam looked at her confused.

"It's the energy demons, witches, and other supernatural things use. As they use it, a bit of energy remains out there, not used for whatever they're doing. This energy is absorbed by the earth and replicated into a cycle that never truly ends." Max looked at them calmly, sounding like a text book.

"So there's all this energy floating around that we could use?" Sam looked thoughtful as he asked this. He mumbled to himself, not realizing the others could hear him. "Maybe it could help Dean."

Max was shaking her head. "Not you. It takes a long time to learn to use it. Mastering it takes a life time and it's almost impossible. Anyways, using it comes at a price."

"A price?" Sam looked disappointed. "What kind of price?"

"Yes." Max looked uncomfortable. "It wears down on your soul and mind. It strains your sanity, motor functions, and the rest of your being. Slowly it strips it all away till your left a lifeless, soulless husk or a demon. Without proper training this happens almost immediately."

"Max means don't try it or even think about finding away to attempt it." Ruby spoke up sternly; she looked hard at the boys. "Doing it means the other could lose you."

Dean nodded, looking like he didn't care, but Ruby saw the pain deep in his eyes. "Don't worry, we aren't interested in superpowers."

Ruby smiled at his gentle jest. "Is that all your questions?"

"No." They said together.

"We'd also like to know where she got the pendant." Dean looked at Max for an answer.

Max sighed. "I'm not really comfortable telling that to you, but I'll make you a deal. I'll tell you if you untie me." At the suspicious look Dean sent her way she added, "I promise I won't try to run or attack either of you."

"Max won't break her word." Ruby put in when she saw the hesitation on Dean's face. "She only attacked Sam to keep me safe."

Max nodded in confirmation to her statement. "Honestly, I thought you meant her harm. It's my job to protect her so I couldn't just let that happen."

Dean nodded to Sam, and Sam cut the ropes that bound her to the chair. Standing up Max rolled her shoulders and stretched. "Much better."

Dean looked at her expectantly, attempting to wait patiently for her answer. After a moment, his patience snapped and prompted her to answer by ask, "Could you tell us sometime soon?"

"Mr. Bossy." Max muttered, making Sam smile. Growing serious she answered, "It was Naő. Sorry I mean Miss Maria."

"Naő?" Sam asked. "We heard you say that earlier. What does it mean?"

"It means 'white' in an ancient language which has no name." Max nervously fidgeted with her necklace, a small silver circle shape. "If I tell you something else, will you promise on your brother's life that you won't kill Naő?"

Sam nodded without hesitation, while Dean thought about her wording. After a minute he nodded in consent saying, "It depends on if anyone's life is in danger, but if no one's going to get hurt I can do that."

Max nodded as if she had expected her answer. "Well, we call her Naő, or white as a joke. She's a witch, but she works for the side of good. Her "witchy-magic" comes from some source of good, though I have no idea where."

Dean looked shocked, but Sam obviously got it. "I figured she was a witch. After your conversation with her I realized that she had been trimming the plant wolfs bane."

"You noticed that? Wow, I didn't think that you were that good." Max commented, impressed. "Your father taught you guys well."

"Now that that's cleared up, I think we forgot about something." Ruby spoke up, looking out the window.

"What?" Max and Dean asked in unison.

"Itachi." Ruby replied, pointing out the window. "He's outside, and he's a full vampire now."

Max looks at Dean, "Got a machete? I'll finish him on my own. He's my problem not yours'." Dean nodded and handed her the machete. Sam looked worriedly at her, making her smile. "Don't worry I'm good at the killing part, not just the research. Ask Ruby if you don't believe me."

The boys looked at Ruby for confirmation as Max exited the room. "She was born into this, and her heart is strong enough." She said, wearily collapsing onto the bed. "And she can find just about any information that could help us on a case."

"Are you ok?" Dean asked, looking at her carefully.

Ruby nodded and yawned, "It's just that I'm tired."

"Well go ahead and sleep." Sam told her, "Max just finished and she's coming back in." He moved away from the window.

"I already knew that." Ruby sleepily mumbled. She curled up on the bed, her breathing deepening just as Max crept into the room.

Max looked at Ruby and smiled gently before picking her up and carrying her to the room that was theirs. As Ruby smiled at a dream, she went back into Sam and Dean's room to finish talking.

)ø(

"Is there any other questions you need answered?" Max asked them, leaning against the wall, her arms crossed.

"Yes." Sam answered her. "There are a few things we'd like to know. One is, is Ruby really a descendant of Samuel Colt?"

"Yes, she's actually _the_ descendant of Samuel Colt." Max noticed the boys' blank expressions and explained, "She's the one descendant of her family left. Her family is from a direct line of descendants from Samuel. That line is the one that holds the secret and technique to fix the colt."

"But RUBY fixed this one." Dean said, holding up the colt. "How did she know how?"

"She probably stole some of the plans Ruby made for a different project." Max looked thoughtful and angry at the mention of RUBY. "Who knows exactly?"

"Next we were wondering what Ruby meant by Itachi being a full vampire now." Sam looked at her for an answer.

"Well, Itachi wasn't turned into a vampire the normal way. He somehow found an experimental "drug" at my old house that my parents had created. It was supposed to cure being a vampire, but instead he found it and took the entire stock. He changed and…" She trailed off a look of pain crossing her face momentarily, "I'm guessing the full effects of the drug finally changed him."

"Ok… well finally we were wondering if you guys are hunters or not." Sam shifted slightly to a more comfortable position. "Or are you something else? Cause form the way you know how to fight and how much you know about the supernatural world it seems you are hunters but…."

"Well, yeah we are." Max smiled, "Ruby more so though. She was raised to be a hunter. We've been at it since we were little. I was sixteen and she was fourteen when we started hunting on our own. We had been hunting with another hunter before that starting when I was nine and she was seven."

"Who is this hunter?" Dean asked, "I mean maybe we know him."

"I'm not going to say. We haven't seen him in years. We left on bad terms." Max looked uncomfortable, but laughed it off. "We disagreed on whether or not continuing to hunt was a good idea for us. Among other things."

Sam nodded, piecing everything together that Max had said. "So exactly who and what is your family? I mean the experimental drug you mentioned makes me wonder."

Max looked at him steadily. "Let's just say that Samuel made a good choice to protect his descendants." She yawned. "Well this is boring now. Anyone mind if I go get a few things from my old place?"

Dean glared at her. "You're not going anywhere."

Max laughed. "It's not like I won't come back. You've got Ruby here. I can't really just up and leave her if I'm supposed to protect her, can I? Anyways, is there a real reason for you to keep us under "surveillance"?"

"Dean." Sam looked at him, his meaning clear. "I'll go with her to make sure."

"No thanks. I've got it on my own." Max insisted.

"Either he goes with you or you're not going Max." Dean waited for her answer.

"Fine," Max sighed, giving in. "But we're taking Ruby's car."

"Car?" Dean looked at Max for an answer.

"A 1964 Mustang. It's the black one in the parking lot." Max answered off hand.

Dean whistled appreciatively. "Ruby's got a nice car." He commented, then added, "Though my Impala's better."

Max rolled her eyes and headed towards the door. Sam followed her out to Ruby's car and sat shotgun. "So why is your car here and not at your house?"

"We were going to leave right after the dance. Until you showed up at it and ruined our plan." Max pulled out of the parking lot onto the street. Heading north down the main street of town she left the towns limits. After about twenty minutes she turned off the road and down a dirt path which Sam realized was a driveway.

"You lived here?" Sam asked in awe as they pulled up next to a large mansion about as large as a hotel. It was made entirely of dark gray stone. The roof was covered in black shingles and looked new. "Did you get the roof done a little while ago?"

Max nodded and led him up to the front door. "Don't touch anything I don't say you can't, ok? The stuff here isn't very polite to those who don't know how to handle them." She opened the ornately carved wood door and stepped inside.

As Sam passed by the door one of the designs caught his eye. "Is that a devil's trap?"

Max turned back to look at what he meant. She smiled, "Yeah. Though not the exact same one you use now. It's from the same ancient language that Naő comes from. The symbols on each point of the star give it more power than the one you use."

Sam studied the door a moment longer then turned to look at the front hall of the mansion. The floor was made of dark polished stone that gleamed dully under the dust that covered it. There was a designed carved into the floor, which seemed to be a little more than a design. "The design on the floor is another really old trap isn't it?"

Max nodded, then laughed at his confused face. "You're wondering why all this is in my old home aren't you?" Sam nodded. "Well, my whole family was a family of hunters, to different degrees, but what do you expect in a hunters house? She pointed to the windows and door. "The wood was soaked in salt and holy water before it was carved and polished. All the handles are a half iron and silver. The iron side has silver colored polish on it so it looks the same. It's like a supernatural fortress."

She started walking again and Sam followed her, noticing all the symbols that were strategically incorporated and hidden in the design of the house. Some of them he knew others he didn't. Finally after going up a set of stairs and down a hall they arrived at a room which Max entered.

The room was medium sized, and had a large window that over looked the back view of the house. The dark trees of the forest there seemed ominous yet comforting. It created the same atmosphere in the sparsely decorated room. The walls and ceiling were a dark navy color and the carpet was a neutral tan. There was a bed, a desk with a bookshelf on top, and a red armchair. The book self was overflowing with books. Looking at the titles Sam saw a few hunting books as well as some books for enjoyment. On the desk was a sleek, pitch black laptop. The cover was decorated with a design that incorporated the devils trap.

"Is this your laptop?" Sam asked Max as she pulled two already packed duffels out from under the bed.

"Yeah." Max walked over by him and looked at the bookshelf. She took down two small hunters' books and two journals. One was black with metallic blue protective symbols designed on it. The other was a plain brown leather one with purple symbols. She put one journal in each bag, and the books in the same on as the black journal. "Now what else…." She muttered, talking more to herself then him.

Sam looked more carefully out the window, and noticed something flashing by the corner of it. He moved to investigate it better and saw a something attached to a string hanging there. "What's that?" he pointed it out to her.

"What?" Max looked at it, "I have no idea." she walked over to it and opened the window. Reaching out she grabbed it. "Well, would you look at that… who put that there?" She muttered.

"What is it?"

"Something for Ruby." She slipped it into her pocket. "Now let's get back." She picked up the two bags and headed out of the room as soon as she put her laptop in one of the bags.

Sam looked at her curiously, wanting to ask more, but form the way her shoulders and face were set he knew she wouldn't answer. He followed her out of the room and down a different hall. He shivered as soon as they made it to the ground floor. The temperature dropped drastically, causing him to tense up in preparation for a ghost to appear. "Max…"

"What?" She stopped and turned, "Is something wrong?" Her eyes seemed far off as she looked at him. Like her mind was somewhere else.

"The temperature…don't you notice it?" Sam looked at her curiously, and then looked around as the neck on the back of his neck stood on end.

"Don't worry. He won't hurt you." Max turned to regard the hallway, "There's no need for that. He's here as a guest and you know it. Despite what I want." The chill suddenly lessened, though it didn't vanish entirely.

"He?" Sam questioned, following her as she started walking again.

Max stayed silent for a few seconds, long enough for Sam to wonder if she had heard him. "He…" she finally answered. "As in my brother." Her voice was devoid of all emotion which shocked him.

"You have a brother?" He wondered why she seemed to suddenly get more distant when he had approached the subject.

"Had." Max continued walking, looking straight ahead of her in a brisk manner.

"I'm sorry for your loss." He suddenly remembered the Mayor telling him and Dean about her family's history. Of course the Mayor hadn't known she was Max, but he had still explained the tragedy that had befallen the Kuromitsukai family.

"It happened a while ago." They made it to another heavier wooden door as she finished speaking. She opened the door and went in, "this is the garage." She explained, turning on the lights. "Please don't touch any of the vehicles."

Sam looked around and spotted an old truck and two Suzuki sport styled motorcycles. One was black and red, the other blue. "Wow…"

"My parents left behind a lot of money. " She walked over to a cabinet at the back of the garage. Putting the bags she had just packed down, she opened it and pulled out a sword in a simple black sheath with a devil's trap on it. Unsheathing the blade in one smooth motion she inspected the edges. She nodded and sheathed it. Opening one of the bags she slipped it inside then picked them up "Let's go." She told him and led the way out of the garage and back into the main hall by the door. Quickly she walked over to the front door. As she was about to open it, she froze, dropping the bags. Grabbing her head in her hands she stared with unseeing eyes at the door, her face full of fear and worry.

"Max?" Sam asked, feeling a sense of unease at what she was doing. It caused him to remember what it felt like to have the images of his visions come flashing before his eyes. He reached out to help her, but stopped when she hissed between her teeth in a mixture of pain and warning.

_**Black storm clouds covering the sky. The wind was howling as four figures stood on a hill, in the middle of a large field. Behind them a fire burned larger and larger, engulfing the rest of the world where ever one of the figures pointed.**_

_**As the image grew clearer, one figure could be seen tied to a post, below the hill on which the figures stood. Below that figure were three bodies, each one bloody. They were obviously dead, at least two were. One of the figures on the ground twitched, bringing the vision into an even sharper focus. It was Max. Max looked over at the other two figures, revealing Sam and Dean. **_

"_**W-wh-why?" Max choked out, spitting out a glob of blood before looking up at the figure on the post. "Why Ruby?" Ruby's eyes were focused only on Max as she stared at her in numb shock and guilt. "Ruby answer me!" Max angrily gasped, sending her into a fit of coughing that caused blood to trickle from the corner of her mouth. As her coughing ceased, a look of panic appeared on her face. "No…not now…." Max's breath became shallower and Ruby felt her mind start to slip away. "Ruby…no...I have to protect Ruby…" She muttered her voice barely a whisper. With a last shuddering breath Max's eyes glazed over and the light left them. Her body went limp.**_

"_**Max!" Ruby screamed. "Max no!" She struggled uselessly against the ropes that bound her.**_

_**The four figures on the hill appeared by her suddenly, one standing next to Max's lifeless body. He nudged it with his foot. "She survived that long? How amazing, though it's not her fault she had to struggle to live that long. If you hadn't attacked them Ruby, then she'd be alive. They'd all be alive."**_

"_**True so true." Another figure on her right whispered. "You killed them all." Laughing evilly, the others joining in. "It's your fault. All of it. Everything is your fault." They chanted and laughed as tears rolled down Ruby's face.**_

Max wrenched her self out of Ruby's dream, shaking. "Are you alright?" Sam asked, reaching out to help her again.

"I'm fine. We need to get back." She snapped, slapping his hand away. She picked up the bags and headed back to Ruby's Mustang. As soon as she put the bags in the trunk and they were both in the car, Max speed out of the woods and turned to go back to hotel. "_Hold on Ruby, I'm coming." _Max sent a message ahead of her, seeing flashes of the dark images that tormented Ruby's dreams. Once again she saw her own face as the panic consumed it, and pushed the pedal down farther as Ruby's guilt intensified.

)ø(

Max skidded into parking lot, turned the car off and hopped out of it in a matter of seconds. Quicker then humanly possible she ran into the room Ruby was in, calling her name. In numb shock Sam got of the car and headed towards Dean who had come outside upon hearing the commotion.

"What's going on?" He asked Sam "Did something bad happen?"

Sam shock his head, "I'm not entirely sure. We were just leaving when Max froze at the door and well it seemed like she was having a vision…then she said we need to get back."

"A vision? You mean like you used to have?" Dean asked, heading over to the girls room.

"I guess…." Sam trailed off and followed his brother. As they entered the room they found Max shaking Ruby awake. He stopped his brother in the doorway and motioned for him to leave them alone.

"Come on Ruby. It's time to wake up." Max barely blinked as she saw the boys leave out of the corner of her eye. "It's ok. It's just a dream. Wake up damn it."

Ruby stirred, slowly waking up. "Max?" She asked, her eyes filling with tears, "Oh my gosh, it was terrible…the Winchesters were dead….and you…you died right in front of me!" She felt the tears break free and gave into them. "I killed you guys. I freaking killed you guys!" She sobbed uncontrollably.

Max sat next to her and hugged her comfortingly, "Shhhhh. It's ok. Relax. It was just a dream as you can tell I'm very alive." Ruby cried a little while longer as Max comforted her with calming thoughts. Finally her sobs subsided, and she wiped her eyes.

"How do you know it wasn't a…a…vision?" She whispered, collecting herself by taking a few deep breathes. "It could be."

Max laughed, "Cause it's not. And since I know everything and am always right it goes without saying that you should trust me on this." She smiled mischievously, making Ruby laugh at their old joke. "Seriously though. I do know everything."

"Sure Max, sure." She got up and headed over to the adjoining door, "Shall we go explain what the heck just happened to the Winchesters? "

"You mean tell a convincing enough lie to get them to look over certain facts?" Max smiled evilly as Ruby nodded, "Well duh!" She jumped up and followed Ruby into the other room, ignoring Ruby's mental eye roll.

"Hey. Sorry for the commotion." Ruby apologized, as the brothers sat in an awkward silence.

"It's ok." Sam said consolingly, hiding his curiosity. Looking between Max and Ruby he noticed how both of them were standing slightly different then they had before. Max was half paying attention to there conversation while at the same time she was lost in thought. Ruby seemed like she was trying to hold herself together without appearing to do so. "Are you both ok?"

Max nodded, "Yeah." She sent a glance at Ruby, an unspoken question in her mind. Ruby returned her glance as a silent conversation passed between them.

"So what happened, If you don't mind me asking. You freaked Sam here with your weird behavior." Dean commented, making Sam glare at him. Dean smirked back, "weren't you Sam?"

Sam sadly looked at them and sighed in defeat, "Yes. I was."

"Well…Max…." Ruby looked at Max, who took over for her.

"I had a bad feeling Ruby was in trouble and last time I had that feeling some thing was wrong." Max explained, "Also the bad feeling gave me one heck of a headache."

Sam and Dean looked at her skeptically, "Really?" Dean spoke up.

"Yeah. Why? DO you have a problem with that?" Max returned.

Dean opened his mouth to respond, Sam stopped him. "No, we were just wondering. It does sound kind of strange, but if that's the case then ok."

"Kind of strange? Your hunters. HUNTERS." Ruby replied, knowing what Sam was trying to do. _"He's playing the I-am-so-trustworthy card." _

_He's not very good at it." _Max replied.

"Point taken." Sam commented. "So I take it you-" he was interrupted by his cell which had started ringing. "Excuse me…" Sam walked outside.

"Well ok…" Max said, turning to Dean, "Well, tell your brother good bye. Ruby and I have to head out. Nice meeting you."

"Wait, what?" Dean asked, confused.

"We're leaving." Max repeated, "As in going away."

"I know but…" Dean trailed off, trying to find a reason.

"You have no right to keep us here." Max replied to Dean's silence.

"See you." Ruby replied. She followed Max out of the boys' room. After grabbing a few things out of their room, she headed to her mustang as Max went to check them out.

"So you ready?" Max asked, climbing into the passenger seat.

Ruby nodded, "They were kind of nice. Are you sure we shouldn't get their numbers?"

"Trust me on this one, they're not good for us, and we're not good for them. " Max gave Ruby a serious look. "You know exactly why too."

Ruby nodded sadly, "I know, I know, they're just kinda….different for hunters if you ask me."

Max laughed, "Well duh." Ruby joined in her laughter and pulled out of the parking lot.

"So our next hunt is where?" Ruby asked.

"Uh…a ghost in Illinois. It's haunting an aparment building. Supposively the ghost of a serial killer but I'm positive it's not. " She took out her notes on the incedent. "Do you wanna hear it now? Or when we're closer?"

Ruby laughed, "Just go."

Max smiled and began to tell her everything. Ruby turned onto the highway and speed of towards their next destination.

)ø(

"Hey Dean…..where did they go?" Sam asked coming back into the room and realizing that Ruby and Max had left.

"Back to hunting….who was on the phone?" Dean asked, curious about his brothers phone call.

"Hank, that one guy we met. He says that there's a demon problem in…Montana. He asked if we think we can help."

"Lets go." Dean replied, getting up. They packed quickly and headed out to the Impala after checking out. "They were pretty cute for hunters."

Sam snorted, "Is that all you think about?" He pulled out one of his many books.

"You need to lighten up a little Sam." Dean replied, turning on the radio. Back in Black by ACDC came blaring out of the speakers.

Sam rolled his eyes, but didn't comment. They took off, speeding down the road.


	4. 4: Second Meeting

_Thoughts_

"_Telepathic Communications"_

**Second Meeting**

"Max." Ruby commented as Max punched the guy in the face. "Max." She said a little more forcefully. "He's unconscious already. Chill out and stop it."

Max frowned but did as Ruby asked, and stepped back from the guy. Careful not to leave any traces she drew a symbol on the wall with the blood on her hand. Focusing she chanted and placed her hand on it. The guy gave a short gasp of pain then slipped into true unconsciousness. "So he's not a lackey of the demon we're looking for."

Ruby gave Max a hard look, "You knew that as soon as you saw him. You just wanted to beat someone up."

"No I didn't." Max said in a fake innocent tone. Ruby just looked at her till she squirmed and added, "Ok, so I did. But he did cause us a lot of trouble. He cut you pretty bad with that damn knife."

"Max, its fine. It's only a little scratch." She laughed, "You are so protective its nuts almost."

Max rolled her eyes at Ruby's tone and turned to the door. "Let's just go. I need a snack after all that waiting."

Ruby followed her out, glancing back at the guy Max had beaten up. _She's getting even more violent…and it seemed for a moment there she lost control…._ She shook her head making the thoughts disappear. _What the heck? I must be mistaken. Max is always in control._ She headed out to her mustang.

)ø(

"There's a multiple murder or…" Sam checked his notes for reference. "A voodo priest."

"The multiple murders." Dean answered, speeding along the back road of some city well beyond the posted limit. They had just finished eating at a diner, not unlike the others they usually visited, and Dean appeared very content.

"We could also work on trying to get you out of your deal." Sam suggested, feeling very fed up with his brother's carefree attitude.

"Sam, I told you, no. I'm fine with it." Dean gives him an annoyed look, "Anyways, I've got most of my year left so relax."

Sam rolled his eyes, but dropped it. He knew it wasn't worth fighting with Dean right now anyways.

Dean switched on the radio and immediately music blared from the speakers. Dean speed up a little more, the scenery of the country passing by at a blur. Sam gave Dean directions to the hunt, then focused on reading through their dad's journal.

The radio grew fuzzy, the station cutting out and Dean turned it off. "Hey, what do you think Ruby and Max are doing?"

Sam looked at him and shrugged, "I don't know….hunting?" He paused to close their dad's journal and put it away, "Why do you care? Still think Ruby's cute?"

"No. I was just wondering because they were a….different kind of hunter." Dean replied, not totally being true. "You can't have really not been thinking about them. You asked Bobby about them."

Sam nodded, "Well I was wondering if he had every seen anything like what Max could do before, but when he told me he hadn't I let it go."

"Liar, that's why you have dad's journal out now." Dean shot back accusingly, but in a friendly way.

Sam frowned, but didn't deny it. "I'm sure we won't see them again Dean, if you couldn't tell they really didn't like us."

"Maybe." Dean replied, putting a tape in. Once again music blared from the speakers and all conversation ceased.

)ø(

"So the vampire has been offering a "drug" to his victims and then kidnapping them." Max outline the situation, "He targets a certain type of girl from what we can tell." She gave the guy sitting at the table behind Ruby a glance to make sure he wasn't listening, "So that means we watch for him at the bar and stop him from getting another victim."

"Max, we are not risking someone else's life to catch him." Ruby frowned at her, "There's a better way, and you know what it is. He goes after blondes and who here is blonde?"

"No way am I letting you be bait. Not a chance. I would rather let the vamp run loose." She crossed her arms stubbornly and leaned back in her chair.

"Max, you know it's the best way. Come on. I can take care of myself." She glared at Max in annoyance. "Stop being pigheaded."

"Ruby no way. I will not let you do it. It's too dangerous. My job is to protect you, not to use you to catch things that go bump in the night."

"Well I'm going anyways so if you want to protect me you have to come and help."

"Ruby Colt, you try my patience."

"I know." Ruby stood up and grabbed her bag, "Now come on." She turned on her heel without checking if Max was following or not.

Ruby sipped lightly at her drink, very relaxed. She was seated at the bar in her favorite pair of jeans and a nice dark purple top. She had made sure to look at everyone in the room for a guy who looked like vampire to her. Max had entered later, looking for the vampire as well. She was decked out in jeans and a dark sweatshirt as normal for her.

"_The guy who entered on your right. He's the one."_ Max's voice came through their bond loud and clear. It was full of annoyance and worry at this plan. _"Now can we ditch the plan and just kill him when he takes another girl?"_

"_No, now quiet."_ Ruby scolded her, focusing her attention on the man who had walked in. He was older, his hair slightly graying (at least to her eyes) with a bit of a scruffy beard. He was walking assured of himself, looking around the bar. As his gaze neared her, she turned back to her drink, feeling Max's concern grow stronger.

"Hey." The guy smiled that creepy ways guys do when trying to pick up girls, "I've got an interesting drug…if u care to try. It's makes your partying experience…amazing." He flashed her a look at a bottle in his hand with a thick dark red liquid.

"Sure…but who are you?" Ruby feigned a slurring tone as she stumbled up.

"Duncan, at your service. Please, have a sip." He pored the blood into a random drink he ordered.

"Can we take it to go? I need a little fresh air to chill my head for a moment." She sent him a little smile.

"Of course." Duncan lead her out the back door, making sure to secure it closed. "So no one just barges out."

"_Max? Can you find another way out?_" Ruby questioned, hoping Max wasn't grumpy enough to bust down the door. "Thanks…that should also keep those dumb creepers from following me for a while." She smiled in thanks, her acting still as perfect as ever.

"Your welcome." He handed her back the drink, "I hope you like it."

Ruby raised it to her lips with one had, the other wrapping around a knife hidden in her back jean pocket. As Duncan tensed expectantly, Ruby dropped the glass and slashed at him with the knife.

"Nice try." Duncan smirked as he grabbed Ruby's wrist. "You thought I could tell you were a hunter. It's not hard. You see, all hunters have a certain smell about them from killing things, and it's strong on you." He twisted her arm so she was forced to turn and expose her neck. "And I'm a little hungry right now so I guess it's only fair that you become my meal."

_Shit. "Max!" _Ruby sent out a mental shout to her friend as she realized her trouble. She struggled against Duncan's grip, hurting her arm in the process. She felt Duncan's fangs near her skin and struggled harder, knowing she was on her own.

"You smell so good." Duncan complemented, "Too bad I can't turn you."

"Hey, let go of her you son of a bitch." A voice yelled and Ruby felt herself being torn away from Duncan. A strong pair of arms were wrapped around her, slightly comforting, but she wanted to know who held her. She struggled to get free and the person let her go. She looked up at the person and froze, "Holy shit, you?"

"Ruby!" Max shouted running, over, her machete at the ready. She lowered it when she saw the person by her, "What the heck Ruby?"

Ruby shrugged, "I don't know, he appeared out of no where and got Duncan away from me…by the way, where were you?"

"Stuck inside." Max replied, someone came to talk to me and I didn't hear your call at first…It was odd." She turned to the boy again, "Now what the hell are you doing here Winchester?"

"The name's Dean." Dean replied, "And I can ask the same of you."

"Well obviously we're all hunting." Ruby put in to keep the peace. She could feel Max's anger wasn't directed at Dean, but more at her failure to help her.

"Yeah." Sam came over, limping slightly, "And I suggest we move before the vampire comes back."

"You lost him Sam? Can't you behead a simple vampire?" Dean joked, "This is why I rarely get to save the hot girls." He sighed in mock distress, walking back to the impala, "Why don't we all go to the hotel and talk?"

"That's fine." Ruby replied at the same time Max chimed in, "Whatever."

"Well that's better then last time." Dean whispered to Sam as they got in the impala.

They arrived at the hotel and Ruby invited them to join them in the room she and Max shared once they unpacked. Ruby dumped her stuff in a corner and leaned on the couch in their room and sighed, "This sucks. The entire thing ruined. I can't believe he realized we were hunters."

"What? Impossible." Max snorted, "He must have been tipped off."

"He said he could smell it on me Max." Ruby sat up and watched as Max stared pacing. "He said all hunters smell like the things they kill."

"He did?" Max shook her head, "Not possible. You don't smell anything like Sam and Dean, and they don't have a hunter smell. It's something else. Something we over looked."

"What do you mean I don't smell like them?" Ruby question curiously. Mental she felt Max close her mind off to her, a tensing of her muscles showing that she was moving into an area of Max's life Max didn't want to discuss.

A knock on the door broke into their conversation. "Probably the boys." Ruby said, heading over to the door. She peaked out the eye hole and opened the door, "Hello."

"Hello again." Dean had the smirk he normally wore, "Thanks for not running." He shot a look at Max as he entered.

"Dean." Sam sent his brother a look that said behave. "Thanks for letting us talk." He offered a warm smile, which only Ruby returned. "We just want to chat about the hunt, and see how you guys have been."

"Right." Max said slightly suspicious, "What do you know about this hunt?"

"Well it's vampire and it's gotten bigger then even you could guess." Dean flopped down on the couch, smirking.

"Dean." Sam sighed in annoyance, "Sorry, we figured out something big right before this that makes this hunt bigger."

"And that would be?" Max questioned, leaned against the wall by the doorway, easily looking lethal yet calm.

"There's another vamp in town." Dean answered, shifting to a more serious sitting position, "And he's got the skills of a hunter."

"A hunter turned vamp? There weren't any others hunting this thing except you two correct?" Max watched carefully as Ruby sat down, a slightly worried look on her face, _"You ok?"_ She questioned her.

"_Just nervous…a hunter turned vamp isn't normal….or common. It's a bad sign." _Ruby replied, focusing back on Dean. "So who got turned?"

"A guy named Gordon Walker-" Sam started but Max cut him off.

"The obsessed vampire hunter guy? How the hell do you know he got turned?"

"He's hunting Sammy and made sure we knew." Dean answered bitterly, then smirked in a smart ass way. "He got a thing for Sam over there and won't take no for an answer."

"Dean." Sam groaned in annoyance.

"Sure Dean. You mean he's after Sam because he believes Sam is a fighter for the demons, then I'll believe you." Max said, making Ruby give her an annoyed and hurt look that neither boy missed.

"Something going on between you two?" Dean asked, then added in a way that meant the opposite of what he said, "I mean not that's it's any of my business."

Ruby looked at both boys a little awkwardly, then changed her mind as Max mentally told her not to say anything. "Max hasn't exactly told me everything it seems, seeing as she's kept stuff that's kind of important from me." She glared at Max, "And it's been happing a lot more frequently."

"What? You expect me to tell you that the hunters that helped us save you aren't as innocent in the hunters department as can be? You'd have felt bad for them and if it came down to the rumors being true, you couldn't have hurt them since they "saved us"."

"Wow. So cold." Dean commented, "Do I look like I could harm anybody?" He smiled innocently.

"You tied me to a chair, don't you remember? I don't call that not harming anybody." Max smirked as Dean struggled to find a comeback. She turned back to Ruby, "I didn't tell you because it was safer and I didn't really believe them myself. So why worry you?"

Ruby frowned slight and Dean and Sam felt like they were missing part of the conversation as Ruby suddenly smiled, "Okay."

"So what do you say to getting out of town quick?" Dean suggested, "Before Gordon realizes you've talked to us."

Ruby looked thoughtful for a moment, "We could help. Right Max? Four is stronger then two."

"Correct, but I'm not letting us." Max turned to look at her, frowning, "and I do believe you can hunt, but I'm not going to let you stay in this town with two vampires out hunting hunters."

"Though I'd love for you to stay and hang around," Dean smirked at Ruby , "I have to agree with Max. It's too dangerous. In fact why don't you take Sam and head out of town while I deal with Gordon and Duncan?"

"Dean!" Sam shouted exasperated, "Stop this damn kamikaze act! You are not staying here to fight Gordon on your own."

"Looks like we're not the only ones having something wrong with each other. We can help them." Ruby argued to Max after smirking at Dean, "And we don't need a babysitter Dean."

"No, we are not helping. No Sam is not coming with us. Seeing as Gordon's after him it doesn't seem like the intelligent thing to do." Max said, the calmest of the three at Dean's suggestion. "It was nice talking to you guys again, but Ruby and I need to pack before we leave."

"Ok." Dean played cool despite being dismissed like a little kid. "Hey, if your ever looking for some fun, call me." Dean winked at Ruby, leaving his number on the table by the phone.

"Good bye, it was nice seeing you again." Sam said, smiling politely at them both. "Good luck on you hunting."

"You too." Ruby and Max replied as one. As Sam shut the door, Rubyu turned and rounded on Max, "What the hell. Why can't we help them! They have two vampires gunning for them and we're just going to leave them?"

"Yes we are." Max frowned at the dark feel to Ruby's mind, "Would stop fuming and pack. My job is to keep you safe and with them it isn't going to happen. They'll be fine. They've had to deal with some pretty nasty SOB's already." Max grabbed her journal and made a quick not of Dean's cell number before handing it to Ruby. "I'm going to grab some snacks for the road. I'll be back in five minutes. Be ready to leave by then ok?" Max sent calming and sorrowful thoughts to Ruby, "I'd love to help them and be all "hero", but it's not a good idea. We'll cause them more issues."

"Ruby sighed and Max felt the dark feeling vanish. "Ok, fine." She started packing up her stuff. "Be careful."

Max smirked, "I'm Max, being careful isn't my specialty."

"Ruby laughed as Max shut the door, and locked it after her. She grabbed the piece of paper with Dean's number and stuffed it in her pocket after adding it to her phone. Then she sat down and started packing her weapons.

Max grabbed two bags of chips and two sodas and quickly paid for them. A dark cloud had been nagging at her thoughts for sometime about this town. She vaguely remembered hearing about it before but couldn't quite place it, and no matter how hard she tried to remember, nothing came to mind. The clerk checked her out at a slowly frustrating pace that made her want to scream, but Max focused on Ruby's thoughts instead. A dizzying sensation confusion and annoyance came back, telling her Ruby was still annoyed at not being able to help, but at the same time Ruby knew she was right. Max grabbed her stuff and headed for the back of the store where it connected to the check out lobby. She waited in the line to pay for their room, glancing around as she closed her mind to Ruby's. After twenty minutes of waiting in line after two customers had to argue about nothing, she finally paid for the room. As she left, grumbling angrily about the stupidity of people in general, she bumped into Sam as she neared the door.

"Hey Max." Sam smiled politely, "I thought you guys would have left by now."

"We're just leaving." Max replied a little ruder then she intended to, "I had to pay for the room, since you can't pay ahead of time here…at least they wouldn't let us."

Sam nodded, "It's a pretty dumb rule. So I guess I won't hold you up any longer..Max?"

Max didn't answer as she gasped and gritted her teeth against the pain she suddenly felt coming from Ruby. Blurring colors and emotions flashed by so fast and were replaced by a dull dark pain, "Shit." Max swore as she got a single clear image. She pushed by Sam and rushed out towards the room she shared with Ruby.

Sam followed Max, remembering the time this had happened at Max's house. It had been almost like the visions he had got, but it was different. He also couldn't help but notice the frantic way Max had ruby out, almost as if she was worried. He wished he had grabbed his cell to call Dean, but it was too late now.

Max had stopped out side Ruby and her room, and was unlocking the door in a frantic haste. Once it open she jumped inside, pulling pocket knife out as she did. Sam followed, keeping a careful distance. "Max?"

"Damn it all." Came her sharp reply as she looked about the room. "Ruby?" She called once, her tone saying hse didn't believe Ruby was here anymore. "Why the hell did….oh shit."

"What?" Sam asked, taking in the destruction and messy state of the room with practiced ease.

"Call your brother…Gordon was here."


End file.
